Roll Call: Votes in Congress

Published: Saturday, June 21, 2014 at 4:30 a.m.

Last Modified: Friday, June 20, 2014 at 3:54 p.m.

Here’s how North Carolina members of Congress voted on major issues in the week ending June 20.

House

2015 MILITARY APPROPRIATIONS: Voting 340 for and 73 against, the House on June 20 passed a $570.4 billion military appropriations bill for fiscal 2015, including $79.4 billion for war in Afghanistan and other theaters. The bill (HR 4870) funds a 1.8 percent military pay raise and bars prisoner transfers from the U.S. military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, while providing $39 million for suicide prevention programs; $350 million for a joint missile-defense program with Israel; $5.8 billion for procuring 38 Joint Strike Fighter aircraft and $220 million to develop a new rocket engine to end U.S. reliance on the Russian-built RD-180. The bill also fully funds the military’s new post of “sexual victims counsel” to help service personnel deal with legal issues after they have been sexually assaulted.

COMBAT BAN IN IRAQ: By a vote of 165 for and 250 against, the House on June 19 refused to prohibit the expenditure of funds in HR 4870 (above) to support U.S. combat operations in Iraq. The vote occurred as President Obama announced he will deploy as many as 300 U.S. military advisers, but not combat forces, to help the Iraqi government defeat a growing insurgency.

A yes vote was to bar funding of U.S. combat forces in Iraq in fiscal 2015.

UNACCOMPANIED IMMIGRANT CHILDREN: Voting 130 for and 292 against, the House on June 19 refused to provide $41.5 million in HR 4870 (above) to the National Guard so that it could help federal border agents deal with thousands of unaccompanied Central American children who have been illegally entering the U.S. in recent months. The funds were to have been transferred from elsewhere in the $570.4 billion military budget.

A yes vote was to allocate $41.5 million to the National Guard for border control.

Voting yes: Jones, Coble, McIntyre, Hudson, McHenry, Meadows, Holding

Voting no: Butterfield, Ellmers, Price, Foxx, Pittenger

DISPUTE OVER MISSILE SILOS: Voting 187 for and 233 against, the House on June 19 refused to strip HR 4870 (above) of a congressional requirement that the Department of Defense keep on “warm standby” status 50 Minuteman III missile silos that are slated for eventual elimination under the New Start arms-reduction treaty with Russia. Overall, America has 450 land-based ICBM silos, which form one leg of the nation’s nuclear triad, along with strategic bombers and submarine-launched nuclear weapons. At issue on this vote was whether the decision on when to shut down the 50 silos should rest with members of Congress or national-security specialists in the executive branch.

A yes vote was to ensure the White House and Pentagon have decision-making authority over silo closures.

Senate

2015 BUDGETS FOR DEPARTMENTS, AGENCIES: By a vote of 95 for and three against, the Senate on June 17 advanced a bill (HR 4660) that would appropriate fiscal 2015 budgets totaling $126.2 billion for the departments of Agriculture, Commerce, Housing and Urban Development, Justice and Transportation and dozens of related agencies, including science units such as the National Science Foundation, National Aeronautics and Space Administration and National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration. The bill remained in debate.

A yes vote was to start debate on the bill.

Voting yes: Democrat Kay Hagan and Republican Richard Burr

A look ahead

In the week of June 23, both chambers will continue to debate fiscal 2015 appropriations bills.

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